The night was as dark as ink.
Soft moonlight streamed through the window and spilled across the quiet bedroom. Under its gentle caress, Ian's long eyelashes slowly lifted, revealing bright green eyes that gleamed like jewels.
As the fog cleared from his gaze and he returned to the present, Ian instinctively looked at the clock in his bedroom. As expected, the hands of the old-fashioned wall clock stood at 12:07.
It had been like this for years.
Whenever he returned from Limbo, the time was always the same. The hour hand might point to a different number, but the minute hand always stopped at that magical number.
Seven.
Ian had no idea what secret lay behind it. He only knew that once every week, he was bound to have an extremely similar experience.
In the past, the people Ian encountered in Limbo had only ever been Ariana and, on occasion, Pandero. This time, though, there had been an elegant, mysterious witch whose origins were unknown.
"She wants me to help her find the mirror she left behind in the living world..."
Ian didn't know whether the elegant witch was good or evil. Perhaps judging a soul by simple notions of good and evil was too shallow. In truth, he was simply curious about the mysterious witch's identity.
A witch who lived in a mysterious castle in Limbo.
Had she once been a renowned figure in the Wizarding World? After all, such a graceful and noble bearing was clearly beyond the reach of an ordinary witch.
"Was she a witch from the last century, or someone who was active in the Middle Ages?"
All Ian knew about the fantastical world he lived in came from a few movies with unimpressive special effects and a handful of fanfics riddled with conspiracy theories.
Because of that, Ian only had a rough idea of the many secrets hidden in this world. The only mirror he could recall was the Mirror of Erised, where the Philosopher's Stone had been hidden at the beginning of the story.
A golden frame.
It let people see their deepest, most intense desires.
If the mirror the mysterious witch was looking for was the one that would eventually appear at Hogwarts, then perhaps Ian really could bring it into Limbo and hand it over to her.
"I just don't know if I can bring something that big there the way I bring candy." Ian wasn't sure. He had never tried anything like it.
To be honest.
Even now, Ian was still utterly baffled by the strange ability he had possessed since childhood. He hadn't even figured out why he could bring candy in, but not the bed he fell asleep on.
Of course.
Being able to enter Limbo in his dreams was bound to be an extraordinary ability, just as the mysterious witch there had said.
Ian... was special enough.
But what that specialness meant, perhaps only that witch could answer. Ian could tell that she cared deeply about it.
"Learn magic from her..."
He had to admit.
Ian had been tempted by the offer. But he couldn't tell whether her kindness was a disguise meant to achieve some purpose, or whether it had something to do with his special nature.
If she really was the former owner of the Mirror of Erised, then she was certainly an old ghost who had lived for who knew how many years. An old female ghost's thoughts might be even harder to figure out than a living woman's.
"She's also a beautiful female ghost. Zhang Wuji's mother had something to say about that."
"I don't need to take that risk... I can learn magic at school, too. The professors there aren't necessarily any weaker than the old witch in my dreams."
Reason won out over greed.
Ian suppressed his growing temptation.
After all, he had the wisdom of his ancestors.
The Great Ying Empire, too, had a long-standing tradition—not only the custom of men pursuing men, but also its longstanding culture of being attracted to underage boys.
What if she really was an old witch who liked to toy with little boys?
Or what if what she called "toying" wasn't the same as what Ian liked? That wasn't a gamble he wanted to take.
"Phew... Namo Gatling Merlin Bodhisattva... This really isn't a risk I can take."
After weighing the pros and cons.
Ian adjusted his pillow, closed his eyes, and drifted back into a real dream.
In all these years, before he'd had the chance to learn Charms, the greatest benefit of having wizarding blood was probably that he could easily learn how to induce lucid dreams.
He dreamed all night.
The next morning, Ian woke up feeling refreshed.
Every movement.
He seemed to carry just a little more confidence and effortless grace than usual. No one knew what kind of beautiful dream he had concocted for himself the night before.
[Successfully learned Latin, language proficiency +1]
[Successfully learned Latin, language proficiency +1]
[Successfully learned Latin, language proficiency +1]
Before the morning sun had risen, Ian had already begun his daily studies. He had always been serious about improving his [Language Mastery] skill.
After all.
Ian had always held on to one hope: that the supernatural trait he gained from this skill might let him touch upon a rare talent possessed by only a few in the Wizarding World.
Communicating with animals.
He wasn't hoping to become a cross-species communicator like a Parseltongue. It would be enough if he could understand animals' feelings and what they meant, the way Newt Scamander could.
"Of course, I wouldn't mind if I could hear the Voice of All Things, either." Ian's previous life had exposed him to a pretty mixed bag of literature, and the night before he'd played at being a bandit king in his dreams.
[Successfully learned Latin, language proficiency +1]
[Successfully learned Latin, language proficiency +1]
As Ian's mind wandered now and then, and he had gained about ten points of [Language Mastery] proficiency, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor outside.
There was also a clattering noise.
Who knew which poor little soul, probably in for a scolding, had knocked over something in the corridor.
"Ian! Ian! Come on! Um... the schoolteacher's here again!"
Catherine's voice rang out from the other side of the door, breathless. Several little hands thumped urgently against it. The children seemed even more eager than Ian to go to school.
"Someone from Hogwarts is here?"
Ian was puzzled and surprised. He went to the door and opened it. With a series of thumps, a group of children who had been practically pressed against it tumbled into the room.
"Ian! Ian! Mrs. Elena wants you! Are you going to school?"
"Will you come back? Can you bring a teacher back for us, too?"
"You can use your good looks to charm the lady teachers!"
The children crowded around Ian, talking over one another. Some of their remarks sounded a little precocious. Orphans always seemed to grow up faster than other children their age in every way.
"Will you come back and teach us?"
Catherine, who knew what Hogwarts really was, looked at Ian with hopeful eyes. She was clearly talking about magic.
"If I get the chance, if I can... then of course."
Ian ruffled the hair of a few children beside him, but didn't dare make them a real promise. Perhaps Catherine might get the chance to study at Hogwarts.
But most people would never make it past that threshold.
"I'll take you to Mrs. Elena!"
Catherine was thrilled. She grabbed Ian and ran outside. The other children barely understood what was going on, but they all scampered after them in a crowd.
"Ian, I don't want to go to that school anymore. I'll just wait for you to teach me how to make candy! The teacher who came today looks like the Gargamel you told us about!"
On the way.
Catherine sidled up to Ian and lowered her voice, speaking with a hint of fear. Her words made Ian, who had already been wondering which professor had come, tense up.
Looks like Gargamel?
Scary?
Ian had a bad feeling.
With the children all around him, he arrived outside the matron's office.
The door was open.
So.
Ian could see at once the figure sitting opposite the matron, shrouded in what seemed like a dark cloud. Even from behind, he radiated tension and oppression.
A little like... the Dark Wizard he had encountered before.
"Why is it him!?"
Ian looked utterly dumbfounded.
Where was the big, fluffy Dumbledore I'd been expecting?!
Why had this black bat shown up instead?!